Roz MacLaren

After an action-packed day, the 2024 Young Adult Literature Convention (YALC) is officially halfway over! It’s been a lovely, welcoming experience. Having people come over because they’d heard about Venom and Blaze was incredible.

Getting to YALC

My day started at 6am, even though I’d laid out all my items the night before and was fully prepped. I caught the train from where I was staying to Earls Court, where it was simple and easy to catch a direct train to Kensington Olympia.

I arrived early, so the train was quiet. However, the queue for YALC was much longer than I expected. I had done my research beforehand and most of what I heard and read suggested it wasn’t a long wait. Based on my experience, I’d recommend getting there around half an hour early.

Immediately after getting inside, I opened my bag up for a quick search. This took around five minutes and then I joined the large queue for YALC.

London Comicon is held in the same area. There are two different queues for YALC and Comicon, as each has a different entrance. YALC is held upstairs.

The #InspiringIndies zone

Our #InspiringIndies zone is located in a large corner space, near the author signing zones. My books are on sale there, and it was lovely to meet and sign several copies for readers.

Later in the afternoon, I had my own stand.

Because spiders are a common theme in the book, I sourced an enormous curtain of cobwebs and some plastic spiders. As YALC is quite soon after Hallowe’en, these were easy to get hold of.

My stand included:

• free bookmarks! I have bookmarks for the first three books in the series and it was lovely to give these away to anyone who wanted them.
• free stickers! I had some stickers made up especially to commemorate my appearance at YALC.
• a trailer showcasing my YA series, The Mirrordom Legends, introducing the first book in the series and letting people know how they can win themselves a copy of Fable and Legend when it comes out in December.
• flyers
• the books themselves! My handwriting got progressively worse as the day wore on, but I signed and personalised several copies of Venom and Blaze and it was so lovely to meet and chat with YA readers.

Along with the other indie authors in the zone, we also had our own panel where we discussed all things indie. Chaired by Helen of LiterallyPR, we explored topics like marketing yourself, earning money from being an indie author and our top tips and advice for other aspiring authors.

Missed it? Come and see us tomorrow (Sunday 17 November) at 16:00, as we’ll be holding a second panel.

YALC – as a reader

I was a YA reader before I was an author, so going through the various stands and zones was very exciting. I found so much in the way of lovely merch to keep as souvenirs and books on my TBR that I couldn’t turn down the chance to buy. Whilst I was very good today and limited myself to two purchases, I will be doing the rounds again tomorrow when I have slightly more time to spare (I won’t be having a stall tomorrow) and I’m sure my bank balance is already cowering in dismay.

The venue shuts down at 18:00 and that was when I dismantled my stand and went back to my hotel for a well-earned rest.

Heading to YALC tomorrow? Come and find me. I’ll be periodically popping in to the #InspiringIndies zone where I’ll be signing the remainder of my books.

I know what you’re thinking: YALC isn’t even over yet and we’re talking about a Post-YALC chat!

While we’re all hyped up and excited about what the weekend will bring, I did want to invite everyone to the online debrief panel that LiterallyPR are organising. (For those that don’t know, LiterallyPR is the amazing PR organisation behind the #InspiringIndies zone.)

Myself and several other indie authors who are going to be at YALC will be chatting all things indie, reliving our best memories of YALC and potentially getting ourselves excited for next year…!

We’d love you to join us online.

YALC – or the Young Adult Literature Convention – is happening THIS WEEKEND. On 16 and 17 November, I’ll be appearing at the convention (where you can say hi, grab a selfie, get a signed book and chat to me.)

Here’s what to expect from the day:

Saturday 16 November

10:00-10:45 – I will be part of a panel of amazing authors talking all things indie. This event is held in the Industry Arena and you’ll get the chance to hear from independent and self-published authors, and ask any questions of your own. So, if you’re wondering if going indie is the right path for you, now’s your chance to find out!

15:15-18:00 – I will have my very own stand in the #InspiringIndies zone. I’ll be giving away fab merch. I’ve created three different sets of bookmarks (one for Venom and Blaze, Fable and Legend and City and Shadow).

You can also collect some free limited-edition stickers to commemorate the YALC weekend.

Hourly giveaways

Finally, I am giving away a very limited-edition tote bag. This giveaway is being done as part of the LiterallyPR Giveaway schedule, which happens on the hour, every hour. So get yourself over to the #InspiringIndies zone every hour and be in with a chance to win something fabulous. I’ve had a cheeky look at the prize list and there are some amazing giveaways from other indie authors and from LiterallyPR themselves. So definitely come and see us and pick something cool up to commemorate your weekend.

Someone will be chosen at random to be the lucky winner.

My giveaways will be run at 16:00 on the Saturday, where you can snag a signed copy of Venom and Blaze plus my limited-edition YALC tote bag.

Sunday 17 November

On the Sunday, my giveaway slot will be at 14:00, where you can win two signed copies of Venom and Blaze.

16:00-16:45 – I will be joining the panel in the Industry Arena again for anyone who missed the first slot. Once again, we’ll be talking all things indie, so be sure to come down and chat with us.

YALC sale

Venom and Blaze will be on sale at a special price for YALC. You can pick up signed copies of my books from the #InspiringIndies zone and you will be able to either pay them by card or me by cash. This will take place across both days on the weekend.

Competition

I’m running my own competition for the weekend for a chance to win a signed copy of my upcoming novel, Fable and Legend. You must be happy supplying me with a UK-based address to send the prize.

All you need to do is:

• follow me on Instagram
• snap a photo of my stand. Post it to Instagram and make sure to tag me.

I’ll announce winners on Instagram live on the following Saturday.

(Please note: Fable and Legend‘s release date is still TBC, so there may be a delay in receiving your prize. Be sure to read the trigger warnings first.)

Post-YALC panel

I’ll also be appearing at an online panel following YALC. This will take place on Friday 22 November from 12:00-13:00 and it promises to be a ton of fun. You’re warmly invited to register and join us. We can’t wait to see you!

I also want to give a shoutout to some of the amazing authors I’ve connected with already. April Grace, author of The Steel Princess, is incredibly lovely and I can’t wait to meet her in person. Roxan Burley, author of The Equal Rise Series, is amazingly friendly (and both she and I have muscle memory that means we get each other’s names wrong – Roz and Rox!) and I can’t wait to meet her in person too! Finally, Helen of LiterallyPR who has brought us all together and made this possible. Helen is an absolute force of nature and her energy and enthusiasm is infectious.

Phew! I think that’s everything. Can’t wait to see you there.

I’m so excited to announce I’ll be appearing at YALC – the UK’s Young Adult Literature Convention. The event takes place on 16-17 November at Olympia.

Along with other awesome indie authors, I’ll be in the #InspiringIndies zone and I’ll have my very own stall (with my very own merch!) on the Saturday. So, if you happen to be in London on Saturday 16 November with nothing to do from 3:15pm to 6pm, come and see me.

I had some very gorgeous specially made bookmarks and flyers (that double as bookmarks) – so come over and grab some swag.

I will also be part of the panel event on Saturday – so if you want to hear from me and some truly inspiring authors, pop over and say hello.

As a Scottish independent author, I’m based primarily in the Inner Hebrides – so getting the chance to head down to London for this event is extremely special and I feel very fortunate to be able to come down and share my books with such an amazing audience – and get to meet new authors. I expect to be very starstruck by Neal Shusterman.

How did it come about?

I was feeling very disheartened in October. A combination of factors had made me quite sad and down. I decided to focus my energy into promoting my book and getting better at my craft. So I Googled book conventions to go to and YALC came up. It was the very last day to apply for their #InspiringIndies zone – and I just managed to get in.

What am I most looking forward to?

I can’t wait to check out the stands of other amazing authors. I can’t wait to meet the indies I’ll be sharing the zone with. I am so excited to see Neal Shusterman. And I can’t wait to have a fabulous time and soak up the atmosphere.

Will you be there?

I’ll be signing books, selling books, giving away books, doing a cover reveal for Fable and Legend and getting the chance to meet and chat with authors and readers. Come over and see me.